WASHINGTON — The arrest of former Chilean dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet has focused new attention on the record of his regime, which remained in power for 17 years after the 1973 coup that toppled Chile’s democratically elected government. Some pointed questions are being raised about the Washington-based Cato Institute’s current embrace of Jose Pinera, who was Chile’s Minister of Labor and Social Security from 1978 to 1980 and is now co-chair of the prominent think tank’s Project on Social Security Privatization. “Pinera was the Pinochet dictatorship’s labor minister at a time when the country’s trade union movement was suffering one…

WASHINGTON — The failure of Congress to pass legislation on health care reform before adjournment has angered many Americans. A number of doctors and health care analysts are available for interviews about Congressional inaction on a patient bill of rights to address problems with HMOs. Some of these specialists regard such a bill of rights as a necessary step, while others see it as a distraction that does not address the real crisis in the U.S. health care system. EDIE RASELL Rasell, a doctor and an economist with the Economic Policy Institute, said: “The protections considered by Congress were designed…

WASHINGTON — A range of organizations today criticized rosy claims about Social Security privatization for Latinos and African Americans. At a presentation in Washington organized by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, the widely cited Heritage Foundation was faulted for “technical errors” and “gross inaccuracies” in its claims that racial minorities would fare better if Social Security were privatized. Kilolo Kijakazi, a senior analyst at the Center, presented her findings in a report released today titled, “African Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Social Security: The Shortcomings of the Heritage Foundation Reports.” She noted that Heritage ignored Social Security disability and…

WASHINGTON — While President Clinton announces budget surplus figures today, some economists and poverty specialists are challenging the idea that poverty is receding as a national problem. Among those available for comment are: ANURADHA MITTAL Policy Director at the Institute for Food and Development Policy – Food First, Mittal said: “Extreme poverty is growing fastest among young children. The United States already has the highest child poverty rate in the industrialized world.” More Information DIANA PEARCE Professor at the School of Social Work at the University of Washington in Seattle, Pearce said: “What is happening at the median hides what…

Many critics of President Clinton contend that his record of deception has uniquely disgraced the office of the presidency. But historian Howard Zinn, the author of the best-selling A People’s History of the United States, says: “There is a long history of presidents who have lied to us and deceived us, about governmental actions that led to the deaths of thousands, even millions of people.” Here are a few of the examples cited by Zinn: President Truman “described Hiroshima — just devastated by a U.S.-dropped atomic bomb — as ‘an important Japanese army base.’ More than 100,000 civilians — men,…

WASHINGTON — As the nation considers the future of the Clinton presidency, some legal scholars and policy analysts are putting the Starr report in a broader context of governmental wrongdoing. Among those available for comment: FRANCIS BOYLE Professor of Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, Boyle said: “The impeachment clause is meant to deal with crimes against the state, subverting the Republic. Starr has not yet presented evidence of such a threat to the Republic. This is not to say that there is no reason to impeach Clinton. There are grounds for impeachment — for example, the…

WASHINGTON — On Sept. 11, 1973, a military coup brought down Chile’s democratically elected government. Twenty-five years later, a prominent U.S. think tank is touting a former high official in the Chilean dictatorship as a visionary for privatization of Social Security in the United States. At the Washington-based Cato Institute, Jose Pinera — who was Chile’s Minister of Labor and Social Security from 1978 to 1980 — now chairs the think tank’s Project on Social Security Privatization. “Pinera was the Pinochet dictatorship’s labor minister at a time when the country’s trade union movement was enduring one of its worst periods…

Special Citation Will Be Presented Thursday in Washington WASHINGTON — Twenty-five years after a military junta seized power in Chile, a special presentation in Washington on Thursday will focus attention on a prominent U.S. think tank that touts a former high official in the Chilean dictatorship as a visionary for privatization of Social Security in the United States. The current co-chair of the Cato Institute’s Project on Social Security Privatization, Jose Pinera, was Chile’s Minister of Labor and Social Security from 1978 to 1980. According to Cato, Pinera “was the architect of that country’s successful pension reform.” After a coup…

Sept. 11 Will Mark Quarter Century Since Military Takeover Twenty-five years ago — on Sept. 11, 1973 — the military seized power in Chile. President Salvador Allende died in the bloody coup, which ushered in more than a decade and a half of dictatorship under Gen. Augusto Pinochet. In 1989, Chile returned to a democratic system with a civilian government. The upcoming quarter-century anniversary provides an opportunity to examine the realities of recent Chilean history as well as key economic issues that currently loom large in Chile and elsewhere in the Western Hemisphere. During the past two decades, Chile has…

Interviews are available with these specialists on Russia and the International Monetary Fund: DAVID KOTZ Professor of Economics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and coauthor of Revolution from Above: The Demise of the Soviet System (Routledge, 1997), Kotz said: “The dominant theme that the problems in Russia are due to not having the courage to follow the IMF advice is almost the opposite of the facts. Russia has followed the IMF more closely than anyone could have expected. The result is that the people have been impoverished. Now, the IMF is demanding more of the same. (Imagine if…